The Room Next Door * * * *

This again?

This is the latest film from Pedro Almodovar and it's been receiving rather enthusiastic reviews.  I'm a big fan of Pedro's work and have seen most of his films but I did not think it was as strong as his last three films - Julieta, Parallel Mothers, Pain and Glory.  Still, an Almodovar film is an Almodovar film and his talent is so prodigious it's almost impossible for him to make a dud.

Almodovar usually makes films in his own language, Spanish, but this is all in English with some pretty clunky dialogue here and there I must say - especially at the beginning - but it eventually gets on track.  Scenes in films are rarely shot in the order we see them, but the way this film improves as it progresses could have you believe it was done in sequential order.

The Room Next Door is based on a novel (What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez) and although it's entertaining enough it certainly didn't have the intrigue or the twists that most of his other films have. I think Almodovar comes up with a better screenplay if he just does it himself. 

Starring Tilda Swinton and Juliette Moore it might remind you a little of  Moore's' recent film May December, and just as that film reminded one of Persona, perhaps this will too.  Although, The Room Next Door never mentions that Bergman classic, despite making pointed reference to other films. 

A couple of women who were old friends reunite. One of them, Martha, is not very well and consequently not long for this world.  (But Tilda always looks like she is dying anyway.  Not being disrespectful, she just does, that's why the screen and directors love her so much).   

Anyway, the two girls start seeing a lot of each other. We learn that Martha and Ingrid were besties many years ago when they both worked on the same magazine, then life got in the way.  Ingrid became a fairly successful novelist whilst Martha became a war correspondent. 

Now that they have found each other again they begin to meet regularly and discuss their past.  We learn more about Martha and her estranged daughter and husband. This might have worked well in a novel but for me her back story came across as awfully contrived.  

Anyway, now that's Martha is dying she hatches a plan and wants Ingrid to help her.  The moral and emotional demands that are placed on Ingrid are formidable, not to mention the legal jeopardy she will be putting herself into. "I need to think about this" she says, then decides to get on board, so off they go to a secluded rented home in  the woodlands of New York state.

John Turturro (always reliably inconsistent) does a fine job in this film as a man who has been intimate with both women but is now a good friend - one that they can rely on.

If you haven't already guessed it, I'm not going to spoil it by telling you what Martha has asked of Ingrid, but it kind of works out and it does become intriguing , if not as emotionally impactful as it should or could be. 

Back to Pedro's touch: Expect the usual decor and rooms that would easily make the centrefold of Vogue Living : gorgeous reds and greens, flowers positioned just so, snow that falls like powder and is even coloured.  Whilst the isolated house they retreat to is one you'd never want to leave.  Such devices and visual seduction helps to lift The Room Next Door above what could easily be another ... well, I think ... "chick flick" is the term they use.